understandable
Americanadjective
Other Word Forms
- nonunderstandable adjective
- understandability noun
- understandably adverb
- ununderstandable adjective
Etymology
Origin of understandable
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English: originally, “capable of understanding”; understand + -able
Explanation
Something understandable can be understood or grasped. It makes sense. Since understanding something means you comprehend or get it, when things are understandable, they can be perceived or fathomed. If a friend cancels plans to see a movie because he's sick, that's understandable. Leaving one job for a better paying job is understandable. Eating a lot of cake on your birthday is understandable. Understandable things are easy to grasp and no one is likely to doubt or question them. The opposite of understandable would be weird, odd, or inexplicable.
Vocabulary lists containing understandable
-able, -ible
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-able, -ible
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-able, -ible
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
That perspective is understandable and, given the stakes, maybe even psychologically necessary.
From Slate • Apr. 8, 2026
It’s understandable why Apple investors are sensitive to news around the foldable iPhone.
From MarketWatch • Apr. 7, 2026
The public at large bought into those efforts with little skepticism in the understandable desire to have Latinos star in the American story.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 24, 2026
Clearly, reliability is an issue, but that's understandable in their first year as a power-unit manufacturer.
From BBC • Mar. 24, 2026
"Well, it was an outrageous, tragic crime, so anger is understandable," I replied.
From "Just Mercy" by Bryan Stevenson
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
